Check out this passage buried at the end of a pretty shocking New York Times report on out-of-control wiretapping by the National Security Agency:
And in one previously undisclosed episode, the N.S.A. tried to wiretap a member of Congress without a warrant, an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The agency believed that the congressman, whose identity could not be determined, was in contact — as part of a Congressional delegation to the Middle East in 2005 or 2006 — with an extremist who had possible terrorist ties and was already under surveillance, the official said. The agency then sought to eavesdrop on the congressman’s conversations, the official said.
The official said the plan was ultimately blocked because of concerns from some intelligence officials about using the N.S.A., without court oversight, to spy on a member of Congress.
Who was this mystery congressman? Which “extremist” was he in contact with? And how does he feel about almost having been spied on by his own government?
Seems worth finding out…
